# Chapter 1

Michael's mother was a lovely woman, as much as he could remembered her. He did remember her pretty, dark hair. He remembered the look on her face when she stared at him. He remembered the slightly serious tone of voice that she liked to use on him. It was not threatening, but rather respecting. She didn't like to treat children as if they were mindless babies. By the time Michael was born, it was already well known that children aren't stupid. They are just wondering about too many things at once. Which may seem rather disorganized to an older person.

She didn't stop the energy of hers even up to the time of her rather early passing. He remembered the crying very vividly. He was only six at a time. So he did not care about why his most beloved woman is no longer with him. He just didn't want it.

On the funeral he denied her going away. He believed for up to a year that she is lost in the mega-structures. And she is fine. And that one day she will most definitely return. But there was the grave. And there were moments of waking. Waking from the dream that his mommy could still be somehow alive.

Years went by. And being stuck with his less loving, but still amazing dad was not bad. Dad loved the old art of non-electrical mechanics. He and Michael used to build little toys that didn't require an energy source of any kind. It was something unique. Something that no other child might have in their house. Everybody had the latest robot toy or the latest holographic, or virtual reality game. But in Michael's house, toys were interesting. Designed by Michael and his dad. Sophisticated and carrying a slight touch of antiquity that those digital experiences were not able to give it's players.

This interest in antiquity didn't stop Michael's interest in modern computers as well. While he was proficient user of the computer, as any reasonable person would have been, Michael didn't stop at the superficial user level. He was amongst the group that called themselves "Computer Literate". People who knew ins and outs of the computer on a level comparable to good lawyer's knowledge of the law. 

Everything in the world where Michael lived was connected via mega-net. A serious of protocols and transfer mechanisms from wireless to cables that formed something similar to the internet of today. But if you would try and brows it with a computer of today, you would not get anywhere. The entire protocol stack was re-implemented multiple times. And fortunately for all people in the mega-structures, the current system is strictly secured against even the fastest of quantum computers. All connections are by default anonymized. All messages are end-to-end encrypted. And privacy of all humans is quite literally, guaranteed. 

The "Computer Literate" know everything about it. As those people are responsible for keeping the mega-net functional and secure. Mind you, it is not just one set of people's responsibility. There is no a governmental body or a corporation that is employing the "Computer Literate". They do the work entirely on the volunteer basis. They are spread through out the mega-structures. And anyone willing, can join at any moment. This is possible, partially because in the current way everything operates, everyone is equally in charge of everything. All the information, both about the mega-net and everything is freely available and searchable. All of this information is editable. And all versions of all the information are stored, just in case.

If a mistake in any part of the whole system is to be discovered, a special repository of mistakes is being updated with the latest problems. It is usually full of them, since minor annoyances occur quite frequently and anybody can submit an issue. And automatic system categorises all the complaints into easy to look up chunks. And all kind of "Literate" people tackle them in their spare time.

While sitting with the broken back, from age nine to age fourteen, Michael had fixed over fifty of those issues related to computer software problems. He couldn't walk while waiting for the spine device to re-enable him to walk. His dad didn't have that much money. He was not very clever in terms of selling stuff. Regular jobs by that time almost all disappeared. You had to know how to convince people into buying what ever you had to offer, or to live on the basic income provided to all citizens of the mega-structures no matter how much they can sell. The basic income that he and his dad had was enough for the basic needs. They would not starve to death. But buying something more expensive then a mere computer, was kind of out of reach. Unless of course you have the patience to save some money on the side. Or you become clever enough to sell something to somebody.

Before Michael needed the spine device, he used to frequently remember his mother. One day, his dad did something that Michael could not forgive him for. He brought home another woman. "A traitor" - though Michael - "how dare he?". He could not conceive such a cheating. Of course it was because by that time, about nine years old, Michael still didn't experience lust. Later he would understand him. But he could not understand him now.

After a nightmare-like face of the new woman pierced him brain with anger, he was astounded. A little girl had come with her. It was Molly. She had pretty dark hair. And even though she was only about five or so. She stared at him with a serious and respectful look. "Mom" - he though. He was not sure if he knew her already. If it was indeed a reincarnation of his mother. Or if it was just a mere coincidence. But he immediately felt a strong connection to that little girl. He wondered whether she feels the same. Whether she has knew somebody long time ago that was resembling him. Nevertheless, they became friends.

For a few months they were playing around with the strange mechanic toys. And Michael was trying to make Molly into a "Computer Literate". Which was as successful as it can be with a brain that constantly looks for something else to get interested in. She was not bad. But was not excited either. Her mind was all around the place. Which Michael found at times amusing. But sometimes he could get frustrated.

Anyway, he loved her. Loved her as he loved his mother. She was his mother for him. Not that lady that his dad now like to call his mother. Molly was now the most important person of his life. And he was old enough to care deeply about her.

That day they were planning a trip to the great opening. It was a huge hole in the mega-structures, allowing to experience the antique feeling of living on earth before the mega-structures. From the great opening you could see most of the sky at once. Still not perfectly as now. The horizon was still full of sponge-like city. But the sky view was marvelous. They planned a picnic. They loaded everybody into dad's car and drove away.

In the car, dad was chit-chatting with his new wife, while Michael was simply admiring Molly. They played with a mechanical toy. And everything was ordinary. Ordinary, but not perfect. A mechanical clamp in the rear part of the car, on which dad had worked two years ago last time, had failed. At first, nothing really changed. The car gained a slight rumbling. It didn't seem to bother nobody. A few turns later, the whole wheel fell off. The car suddenly jerked into a turn and stopped. And since the part of the road, of which it happened was angled, the car started tipping over. They fell, but nobody was injured.

The windows were shuttered from the sudden fall. But nothing but a scratch happened nobody involved in this accident. Molly started crying since she didn't anticipated all of this. Michael hugged her tight. Dad came out of the driving cabin and said "Wow, this was something." then, he opened one of the doors and walked out the car. Molly's mom came toward Molly and Michael, to pick her up. He remembered the next moments with at most accuracy.

While hugging her, her hair blocked most of his vision. He didn't care about seeing, the thought, he cares about calming her down. A slight breeze of air had entered the car and moved the hair away. There in the rear window was another car. He remembered how he thought to quickly rotate, to protect Molly from the blast. So he did. When the other car smashed into this one, he got a violent blow of metal to his back. What happened later, he once remembered. But his consciousness actively fought against that memory. Molly was so near and dear to him at that time, that loosing her was not a memory that he wanted to keep.

He was and still is blaming himself for not saving her life properly. Since that time, his back in not functioning properly without the assistance from the spine device. He remembered the ruins of the two cars. And how violent the image looked. Soon enough the municipal services of the mega-structures, cleaned the area. And once in a while, Michael would come to that place.

One day, he bough, using anonymous payments and contact-less delivery a few cans of vodka plus. And he went to remember Molly. He fainted out that night. But he didn't know where he would wake up. Of who he will see there. So he fell on that piece of ground. And entered the land of dreams. 
